OLYMPIAN Jess Judd is among the entries for what is shaping up to be a cracking night of athletics at the Saucony British Milers Club International Grand Prix at the Watford Woodside Arena on Saturday (June 11th).
Judd doubled up in the 5000m and 10,000m at Tokyo last year and has already got her 2022 summer campaign off to a great start by winning the British 10,000m Championships to book her place in the team for the Worlds in America.
Judd has been a big supporter of the BMC Grand Prix series, which this year is offering a £16,000-£22,000 prize fund for each of the five high profile meetings, and on Saturday will step down to the 1500m to sharpen up her speed.
Watford-born fellow GB international Kyle Langford, currently fifth on the 2022 UK Rankings over 800m, is also expected to race over two laps after a successful spell racing in America and is sure to get big support from the local athletics fraternity.
As for in-form Judd she is the fastest in the field for the 1500m but certainly won’t have things her own way as the entry includes a strong overseas presence from Brazil to New Zealand.
“We have a strong entry from Australia and New Zealand as their athletes are now basing themselves in Europe to prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this summer,” said BMC CEO and Grand Prix director Tim Brennan.
“For them the Watford meeting is a great opportunity take on some of the best young British runners and get a really competitive, fast race.
“We also have a strong contingent from Brazil including some Pan American champions so that is another big boost for the meeting.”
One of those Brazilians is Olympian and 2021 South American 3000m steeplechase champion Tatiane Raquel Da Silva and she will be up against Australia’s Georgia Winkcup, who set the BMC record of 9:37.43 in 2019, so that promises to be an intriguing contest.
In recent times the BMC has been at the forefront of developing young middle distance talent and many of today’s top GB runners have learned their trade on the Grand Prix circuit.
Some of those will have an eye on staking their claims for selection to the Commonwealth Games while the best emerging younger runners will be looking to run qualifying standards for the World Under 20 and European Under 18 Championships in Colombia and Israel respectively.
That is why the sport’s governing body, UK Athletics, has incorporated official trials for the under 20 and under 18s championships. The meeting is also part of the World Continental Tour.
“That means everyone is rushing to get in their entries this week before the deadline!” added Brennan.
“It is why the meeting is a great opportunity for fans to come along and see tomorrow’s Olympians in action.”
One of those future stars could well be Reece Sharman-Newell, who is the fourth fastest 800m runner in Britain this year after setting a personal best of 1min 45.56secs in America, in April. The 19-year-old will certainly be in contention to challenge for either the Worlds, Europeans or Commonwealth Games this summer.
“It is a very busy summer for major championships so we are expecting a strong turn-out of leading runners coming to Watford to get some fast times – and the track plus the BMC organisation has a great reputation for doing just that,” added Brennan.
The meeting will start at 5.30pm and spectator tickets can be bought on the gate for £10 or £6 in advance HERE Children under 12 are free. Refreshments will be available.
Previous years have seen some fantastic racing and top performances
Senior Records | |||||||
800m | 01:45.10 | Richard Hill | 10Jun06 | 01:59.33 | Lynsey Sharp(Mx) | 24Jun17 | |
01:59.93 | Alex Bell | 26May18 | |||||
1500m | 03:37.6 | Moses Kipsiro KEN | 14Jun08 | 04:03.09 | Nancy Chepkwemoi | 27Jun15 | |
03.37.62 | Tom Marshall | 14Jun17 | |||||
3000m | 0743.57 | Andy Butchart | 12Jun21 | 09:04.21 | Nicola Gauld | 14Jun08 | |
5000m | 13:28.60 | Mizan Mehari ETH | 05Aug98 | 15:08.33 | Sarah Moreira | 09Jun12 | |
10,000m | 27:32.81 | Fabiano Joseph Nassi TAN | 05Jul03 | 31:26.94 | Jo Pavey | 30Jun07 | |
3000m STC | 08:29.96 | Andrew Lemoncello | 30Jun07 | 09:48.01 | Julia Checkwel | 27Jun15 | |
U20 Records | |||||||
800m | 01:46.84 | Oliver Dustin | 29Jun19 | 02:00.37 | Jessica Judd | 15May13 | |
1500m | 03:40.70 | Othmane Laarroussi MOR | 11Jun11 | 04:13.76 | Emma Pallant | 14Jun08 | |
3000m | 08:01.48 | Darragh McEhinney | 29Jun19 | 09:13.58 | Joanne Harvey | 14Jun08 | |
5000m | 13:28.60 | Mizan Mehari ETH | 05Aug98 | 15:34.21 | Emelia Gorecka | 09Jun12 | |
3000m STC | 08:38,07 | Zac Seddon | 09Jun12 | 10:11.86 | Pippa Woolven | 09Jun12 |
Meeting Information HERE
Lead Entries
800 Men | |||
Oliver | Dustin | Border/Birmingham Uni | 01:43.82 |
Jake | Wightman | Edinburgh AC | 01:44.18 |
Guy | Learmonth | Lasswade/Loughborough Students | 01:44.73 |
Kyle | Langford | Shaftesbury Barnet | 01:44.83 |
Mark | English | Letterkenny/Ireland | 01:44.84 |
Reece | Sharman-Newell | Basingstoke & Mid Hants | 01:45.56 |
Finley | Mclear | Exeter/Miami University (OH) | 01:45.80 |
Eduardo | Ribeiro Moreira | Brazil | 01:46.60 |
Zak | Curran | Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow/Dundrum South Dublin/Ireland | 01:46.78 |
Ethan | Hussey | Leeds City | 01:46.78 |
Jye | Perrott | Australia | 01:46.93 |
Daniel | Howles | Aldershot, Farnham & District/Brunel Uni London | 01:47.41 |
Ben | Greenwood | Perth Strathtay | 01:47.76 |
James | McMurray | St. Albans AC/St. Albans Striders/Brunel Uni London | 01:47.83 |
Angus | Harrington | Blackheath & Bromley/Cambridge Uni | 01:48.58 |
800 Women | |||
Jenny | Selman | Fife | 02:00.70 |
Izzy | Boffey | Enfield & Haringey/Birmingham Uni | 02:01.24 |
Jenna | Bromell | Ireland | 02:02.20 |
Iseult | O’Donnell | Raheny Shamrocks/Ireland | 02:02.29 |
Jaqueline Beatriz | Weber | Brazil | 02:02.69 |
Sarah | Healy | Ireland | 02:02.76 |
Phoebe | Gill | St. Albans AC/St. Albans Striders | 02:03.74 |
Rachel | McClay | Bracknell AC | 02:04.01 |
Isobel | Ives | Basildon/Bath Uni | 02:04.40 |
Iris | Downes | Shrewsbury | 02:04.44 |
Jill | Cherry | Victoria Park City of Glasgow/Glasgow Uni | 02:04.94 |
1500 Men | |||
Charlie | Da’Vall Grice | Brighton Phoenix | 03:30.62 |
James | West | Tombridge | 03:34.07 |
Piers | Copeland | Pontypridd (Roadents) | 03:34.62 |
James | Young | Morpeth/Ole Miss | 03:37.72 |
Kane | Elliot | Falkirk | 03:39.13 |
Garrett O’Toole | O’Toole | Birchfield/USA | 03:39.23 |
Kristian Uldbjerg | Hansen | Denmark | 03:39.67 |
Max | Wharton | Halifax | 03:39.68 |
John | Howorth | Team Bath/Birmingham Uni | 03:39.85 |
Andrew | Smith | Leeds City/Leeds Beckett Uni | 03:40.55 |
Thomas | Keen | Cambridge & Coleridge/Birmingham Uni | 03:41.34 |
Ricky | Harvie | Aldershot, Farnham & District | 03:42.06 |
Luke | Duffy | Mansfield/Loughborough Students | 03:42.33 |
Jack | Rowe | Aldershot, Farnham & District | 03:42.37 |
1500 Women | |||
Jess | Judd | Blackburn/Loughborough Students | 04:03.73 |
Linden | Hall | Australia | 04:03.81 |
Ellie | Baker | Shaftesbury Barnet | 04:06.54 |
Georgie | Hartigan | Birchfield | 04:08.75 |
Vera | Hoffmann | Luxembourg | 04:11.44 |
Hannah | Nuttall | Charnwood | 04:12.30 |
Aimee | Pratt | Sale Harriers Manchester/Manchester Uni | 04:12.52 |
Gemma | Kersey | Basildon/Middlesex Uni | 04:13.54 |
Sabrina | Sinha | Cambridge H/Birmingham Uni | 04:14.20 |
Sarah | Calvert | Livingston/Edinburgh Uni Hare & Hounds | 04:14.59 |
Rebekah | Greene | New Zealand | 04:14.81 |
Niamh | Bridson Hubbard | Blackheath & Bromley/Cambridge Uni | 04:15.41 |
5000 Men | |||
Ederson | Vilela Pereira | Brazil | 13:23.24 |
Rory | Leonard | Morpeth/Oklahoma State Uni | 13:50.22 |
Jack | Goodwin | Bedford & County | 13:51.66 |
Chris | Perry | Vale Royal | 13:52.79 |
Osian | Perrin | Menai | 13:53.03 |
Kieran | Clements | Shaftesbury Barnet | 13:53.34 |
Ian | Crowe-Wright | Brighton & Hove | 31:54.06 |
Adam | Craig | Inverclyde | 13:54.14 |
5000 Women | |||
Sam | Harrison | Charnwood | 15:32.07 |
Morag | Millar | Central | 15:43.57 |
Hannah | Irwin | Cambridge & Coleridge | 15:49.74 |
Mhairi | MacLennan | Preston | 15:51.78 |
Sarah | Astin | Belgrave | 15:59.13 |
3000SC Men | |||
Dan | Jarvis | Bedford and County | 08:37.58 |
Adrian | Thomson | entral/Belmont | 08:47.32 |
3000SC Women | |||
Tatiane | Da Silva | Brazil | 09:36.43 |
Georgia | Winkcup | Australia | 09:37.43 |
Simone | Ferraz | Brazil | 09:45.15 |
Stella | Radford | Australia | 09:45.72 |
Kate | Seary | Cardiff | 09:55.96 |
Maisie | Grice | Aldershot, Farnham & District/Birmingham Uni | 10:04.91 |